Pubdate: Fri, 02 July 1999
Source: The Press-Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Placer Community Newspapers, Inc.
Contact: 188 Cirby Way, Roseville, CA 95678
Fax: 530 783-1183
Website: http://www.thepresstribune.com
Author: Charlotte Wright, The Press-Tribune
Note: Our newshawk writes: "Placer County's violations of basic human
rights continues unabated.... Our source for this story says the elderly
couple is very angry and they do NOT excuse the police, regardless of what
the end of this article says."
NARC AGENTS RAID WRONG HOME
ELDERLY ROSEVILLE COUPLE HANDCUFFED AND HELD CAPTIVE
ROSEVILLE - Septuagenarian Sandy Sanborn said the loud beating on his front
door jolted him out of bed Thursday morning. As he reached the door,
sheriff's deputies kicked it in, yelling, "Warrant search!"
According to the 78-year-old Roseville resident, he landed on his backside,
and then nine Placer County Sheriff's deputies stormed into his Vine Avenue
home. Sanborn told the Press-Tribune a deputy then pushed a gun and a
warrant in his face, demanding he reveal the location of his pot-growing
operation.
"They put me in handcuffs and shoved me in a chair," he said.
The other deputies rushed into his wife's bedroom, where she lay asleep.
Grace Sanborn said she awoke to gun-wielding officers, who handcuffed her
and then forced her into the living room with other handcuffed family members.
Sheriff's Lt. Dan Hall confirmed that at 7:10 a.m. Thursday, narcotics
agents burst into the Sanborn home with a warrant to search for a drug
operation.
"Our investigation led to probable cause for officers to believe that there
was in fact illegal marijuana cultivation occurring in the Roseville area,"
Hall said. "On that investigation, a legal search warrant was obtained from
a judge. That morning, the warrant was executed. However, the search failed
to produce evidence of criminal activity. Therefore, no arrests were made."
Hall refused to make further comments about the raid. Roseville Police
Department officials said while they did not participate in the raid, they
knew it was happening.
According to the Sanborns, the deputies held them captive for an hour. The
warrant was for their son, Lyman H. Scott Sanborn. He refused to talk to
the media, citing humiliation at the hands of law enforcement.
The elder Sanborns said they felt violated and frightened as deputies broke
doors into the kitchen, pantry, and other rooms, rather than unlocking them
first.
Sandy Sanborn said he became outraged when they refused his family basic
needs.
"They wouldn't even let my son go to the bathroom," he said. "They held
guns at us and kept demanding the location of our pot operation."
An emotionally distraught Grace Sanborn burst into tears as she recounted
how she had to sit handcuffed and watch her elder children brought into the
room, handcuffed, and placed on the floor.
"Here is this strange man with a gun pointed at my daughter," Sanborn said.
Grace Sanborn told The Press-Tribune it was surreal as it happened.
"I can not believe this is in my life," she said, as she threw up her hands
and left the room in tears. "Do you know how it would feel? I cannot even
talk about it."
After an exhaustive search netted nothing, Detective Ron Goodpaster
apologized to the elder Sanborns.
"There is no reason for an apology," Sanborn said he responded. "You were
doing your job."
Sanborn told The Press-Tribune he has been accused of wrongdoing before. As
an assistant to Assemblyman Eugene Chappie during Gov. Ronald Reagan's
administration, Sanborn was working on a case that would have indicted an
insurance company for fraud. The tables were turned, however, and Sanborn
found himself charged with fraud. After five years in court, he was cleared
of all charges, according to him.
"I have had a lot of fun with various law offices," Sanborn said.
He says he does not believe that the officers were wrong for searching his
home. Yet, he believes that something went wrong in the legal process. He
does not know who made the accusation against his son for cultivating
marijuana.
He intends to investigate why the bust was made on his house.
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